urbanMSP

I'd argue apartments are better for the city: 1) Faster development cycle. 2) Flexibility for residents to move in/out as lives change. Wanna give downtown living a try for a year and see if you like it? Rent an apartment. You're not married to the neighborhood. Wanna give downtown living a try but ...

That is the first time I have ever heard anyone call LA real estate cheap. Although in comparison to the superheated SF and London markets, it probably is.

Developer: So I built is this hideously ugly, badly proportioned student ghetto with all

I kind of like it.

Strib story with headline that makes no news (Green Line was always going to surpass Blue Line for ridership) but a great chart showing ridership at each station for the last 12 months. There are some really interesting trends here. http://www.startribune.com/green-line-lrt-ridership-surpasses-blue-...

Anecdote. The quality of the LRT operators varies widely. Some are great at starting and stopping smoothly, others jerk their way into nearly every station. The smoother operators also seem to hit green lights mre consistently....at least as far as I've observed. What do you think?

I agree that the line must serve the core of DT St Paul, and froggies' map and twincitizen's explanation of the compromises involved are appropriate. Would it make sense to have a station between Davern and Montreal? There's lots of low-density superblock-style stuff there, but also a decent number ...

To be fair to MT, escalation in construction costs has been pretty intense in the last few years. That especially hurts government projects, because they're typically on a longer timeframe for a variety of reasons. I'm also an architect, and I've got a job that's 10-12% over budget and another one t...

That article is a little bit all over the place. The Hamline Station project referenced is only four stories. Two more could have been added while still being stick-built - why did that not happen? That would have at least lowered the per-unit cost. I would guess there were height or parking concern...

I have to say that this is a really, really interesting discussion. 1) I think the point that Nicollet Mall suffers more from bad urban design (too few doors, not enough retail, generally poor street/skyway connections) at the building scale, as much as lack of programming or seating, is a very stro...

I like having more eyes on the street personally.

Same here. I welcome hide and riders to my block near Lexington Parkway station. Particularly in the spring, fall, and winter when it gets dark earlier.

Very cool! That is a great old building with a lot of potential.

That's a pretty accurate description, if you're talking about the downtown area only. Des Moines really does not have the kind of moderately dense residential neighborhoods centered around walkable retail nodes that are so common in the Twin Cities. You don't have to get far out of downtown Des Moin...

I drove through on the way to Kansas City last weekend and decided to stop for lunch in Downtown Des Moines at the Farmers Market. It was really a great setup - 4 blocks of Court Ave were shut down to cars. Lots of food vendors and live music in addition to people selling produce. Lots of people out...

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I like it.

Given that the Traveler's tower was vacant for so long (which I had no idea about), and is not skyway-connected, I'd expect Ecolab's move to really liven up the 7th Place mall.

Cities crush rural areas in so many quality of life and economic indicators that I can understand why outstaters feel the deck is stacked against them. I have five different grocery stores within a mile or two of my house. My in-laws have to drive 45 minutes to get to Hy-Vee. I can send my kid to do...

I, for one, think the idea of transporting prisoners to St Cloud on the Northstar is a wonderful idea. 1) It saves money and carbon emissions from having to put them in a truck and drive them up there. 2) It juices the ridership numbers of a horribly planned, lazily executed, albatross of a transit ...

Sounds like the Ecolab move to the Travelers tower is going to happen. http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27930321/ecolab-acquire-downtown-travelers-building-move-operations I have got mixed feelings about this. Sounds like they will be abandoning all three of their buildings on Wabasha to conso...

There is a lot I'm not liking about this as it takes shape. -At least a few walk-up units, or even small patios, would liven up the Western façade. -Three stories seems very short for a full-block building. Why not go with four, and keep much of the parcel open for a future development? -No Universi...